Mind Games
by JealousDragon
Summary: When a freak accident takes place in Charms class, Rose is now able to read a minds for a short while and who does she encounter but Scorpius Malfoy, her sworn enemy? R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Rose hated her best friend. No, she really did. Rose Weasley hated Alexandra Finnigan. It was a fact. She had to add _Find new best friend _in her to-do list.

The cause of Rose's hatred towards the seemingly innocent Alexandra was because Alex was rubbish at Charms. She was the most horrible Charms student Hogwarts had seen…well, ever. Rose wasn't sure how Alex had managed to come sixth year. She may be extremely good at Defence Against the Dark Arts or even Transfiguration but Charms? Really, _really _not her cup of tea, which was why her dreadful attempt at Mind Blocking spell had backfired on…Rose! Which wasn't fair in the least.

Rose wasn't sure what side effects it was going to have on her but she didn't suppose it would be anything good. She was already feeling a bit strange. She was hearing unknown voices but they seemed too distant so she just decided to ignore them.

Having a free period, she decided to go to the grounds to get some peace and quiet under her secret tree which never failed to give her just that. Being a part of the Potter-Weasley clan could be mind-numbingly exhausting. Also, if there were going to be any awful physical side effects, she'd rather not show them to the entire school, thank you very much.

On the way to her favourite place, Rose bumped into someone which resulted in the person's books scattering on the floor. She heard an irritated groan. She was just about apologize…

"Watch where you're going, Weasley!"

Oh, of course. It just _had _to be _him. _Introducing Rose Weasley's Rotten Luck, ladies and gentleman.

Instead of helping him with his books, she glared at him venomously. "Malfoy."

He gave her a look which was supposed to be intimidating and dangerous but it just didn't work on gorgeous face. On the contrary, he looked quite adorable.

So. Scorpius Malfoy. Rose's sworn enemy.

Although she couldn't deny the fact that he was slightly good-looking with messy, pale blond hair falling over his striking grey eyes _and _that she got a funny feeling in her stomach when he was around (which dear Alexandra mistook for fancying. It was probably just loathing), he was still the bane of her existence and the person she hated more than anything in the whole world.

_Damn it. It just has to be her everytime. I could tolerate Filch right now. Anyone but her._

Rose jumped and gasped. Shit, shit, shit. Where had that voice in her head come from? Where had that _male _voice in her head come from? What was happening? She hadn't thought of anything like that. Her thinking voice was very different and _certainly not male._

Scorpius was looking at her strangely, one eyebrow raised, possibly because she had just gasped out loud for no apparent reason.

"Alright, Weasley?" he asked, a hint of worry lacing his words.

Oh, Merlin's saggy underpants! It was _his _voice! In her head! Why was Scorpius sodding Malfoy's voice in her head, of all places? Shit, was he reading her mind?...Or was she reading his? She wasn't sure because if he was reading _hers,_ he didn't seem aware of it and unknowingly reading someone's mind was…well, just not possible so that left only one option that Rose could think of. She was reading his mind! She could hear his thoughts.

How had that happened? Could it be one of the side-effects of Alex's spell? Well, that was the only explanation Rose had. This was freakishly awesome, not to mention extremely interesting.

But why did it have to be _Malfoy_? She didn't want to hear his filthy thoughts! Especially when he was giving her that look, that said he thought she was deranged. She didn't want to know what he thought of her –it was undoubtedly something foul and nasty and –

_Bloody hell, why does she always have to look so damn hot?_

Or maybe not.

Rose gaped at him, a furiously red blush creeping up her neck. Was he talking about her? Did –did Scorpius Malfoy, her sworn enemy, just call her 'damn hot'?

She was pretty sure he had. God, she couldn't believe it. Her enemy of five years actually thought she was attractive and not a Weasley hag, as he often liked to call her. The thought sent her mind whizzing and heart doing cartwheels.

_Stop it, Rose,_ she chided herself, _You hate him, remember?_

Although, what he thought next almost made her pass out.

_I swear to Merlin, if she blushes like that any longer, I might just give in and snog her senseless._

Mmmm…snogging Malfoy. She couldn't say she hadn't thought of kissing Malfoy before. She had heard in the Girls' Washroom that Scorpius Malfoy was an amazing kisser –apparently the best at Hogwarts! So to say the least, snogging him would drive her into ecstasy _but _that didn't change the fact she was in hate in with him.

Rose smirked at Scorpius. She didn't know what possessed her because what she did next was something Rose would never do, ever. In a million years. Nuh-uh.

Rose Weasley would never say something like that to anyone, much less Scorpius Malfoy. But she had said it and there was no denying the fact that she said it sexily, if Scorpius's facial expressions were any indication.

"Malfoy, are you thinking about snogging me?"

Scorpius's eyes widened in horror and he took a step back.

_Shit. Did Weasley just say what I was thinking, out loud? But that's not possible! It could have only been a coincidence. Nothing to worry about._

The demon that had possessed Rose wasn't ready to leave just yet.

Her devilish smirk widened and her eyes glinted. "You have a lot to worry about."

_NO. FREAKING. WAY. IN. HELL._

Scorpius was breathing hard, not believing his ears. She was messing with him. Big time. "What are you talking about?"

She took several steps toward him and stood way too close for his comfort. "You know _exactly _what I'm talking about, Scorpius," she said in a low voice. Scorpius swallowed nervously. No, this was not good. Was it just him or had someone turned on the heat?

"How are you reading my mind, Weasley?" he asked plainly, trying hard not to panic at the very prospect.

Rose suddenly adopted a very innocent look. "Who says I'm reading your mind?"

"Stop the bullshit, Weasley. Tha –tha –that _look _won't work on me, I'll have you know," he said, trying to sound confident. "How are you reading my mind?"

She shrugged indifferently. "I have no idea what you're on about."

Scorpius suddenly grabbed her shoulders and looked fiercely into her face, their noses nearly touching. "You and I both know what's going on. There's no hiding from the fact that _somehow _, you can hear my thoughts. How are you doing it? You should know I'm a pretty good Occlumens. I can shut off my mind _right now._"

"Then why aren't you?" Rose asked softly, dropping the façade, searching his eyes.

This seemed to switch it. His hands left her shoulders like it burned and he took several steps back, his face now wiped clean of any emotions at all.

"I have to go return these books to the library. See you, Weasley," he said and started walking briskly toward the opposite direction.

Rose exhaled, her heartbeat steadying a bit.

What just happened?

* * *

**A/N: It's actually a two-shot!**

**Review if you want me to continue! Thanks for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. **

**A/N: Wow! I was thrilled by the response I got! :') **

**Thank you for the reviews, The Chirpy Bitch, Ms Jasmin Malfoy, IgraineOhnefurcht, rolowealsey27, Narnian Dreams, Lily flower, Guest #1, Fugacity, EMily, Guest #2, Tania and YAAAAAAASSSSSSS! **

**Note: Okay so I know the Room of Requirement was destroyed in Deathly Hallows but just for the sake of this story, let's assume it still exists.**

**Now, let's get on with this chapter…**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_She's sitting right there, next to Rose. I think I should ask her out. Should I ask her out?_

**_Oh no, he's looking at me funny. Why is he looking at me funny? Does he know?_**

_Bloody hell, she's eyeing me tensely. She knows –SHE KNOWS! Oh, Merlin!_

**_He looked away! I knew it! I knew he hated me! I knew i –_**

"Oh, for God's sake!"

Rose had had enough.

She snapped her heavy book shut with a thud and stared daggers at the two people, one sitting with her and the other across her.

"Stop it. This is unbelievable –For the love of Merlin, the whole world knows by now that you like Alex, Al and she likes you back! So please do me a favour and ask her out already!" she screamed shrilly.

A shocked silence followed her words. Had Rose not been so angry, she would've thought her cousin and her best friend's reactions were extremely comical. First, they looked taken aback by shock and surprise. Then slowly, a very dark shade of crimson started creeping up their necks and within five seconds, both of their faces looked like someone had poured huge amounts of ketchup on them.

They wouldn't meet each other's eyes and started mumbling incoherently. Rose had a strong urge to slap some sense into them both.

"That's it. I'm leaving." Rose announced and got up to leave the common room and to go to Professor Boot, the Charms teacher's office.

She had decided to go see him a while ago to inquire about her…er –problem but she had wanted to finish the last chapter of her highly gripping novel but her two best friends' hormones wouldn't let her. Reintroducing Rose Weasley's Rotten Luck, ladies and gents.

As Rose started walking towards the office, she realized how immensely glad she was that it was very late at night. That meant the corridors were empty as everyone had retreated back to their respective houses and there would be no pesky voices in her head.

Despite Charms being the last class and the Rose spending the rest of the day in her dormitory alone, she had still found out pretty unnecessary things about some people. A lot of these things were quite er –_unpleasant _so it was best not to mention them.

Lost in her thoughts, pretty soon she was in front of Professor Boot's office. She hesitated and then knocked on the heavy door, hoping his thoughts were clean –that he wasn't thinking about getting dirty with his wife, Professor Parvati Boot because that was honestly more than Rose could take.

A very tired looking Professor Boot opened the door and blinked at Rose, surprised. Thankfully, all he was thinking about was sleeping.

"Rose Weasley," he said, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Rose smiled apologetically and said, "I'm really sorry to disturb you, Professor, but I need to ask you something."

"Well, come on in," he beckoned her into his office, "You shouldn't be out in the corridors alone at night. Couldn't this wait till tomorrow?

Rose shook her head. "I'm afraid not, sir."

He gestured her to sit in of the chairs lying around and started making tea. She was, after all, his favourite student.

Magically, the tea was made in approximately three seconds and he poured it into two transparent teacups and handed her one. Then he grabbed a chair and sat across her.

"So Rose," he started, peering at her curiously, "What is this about?"

Rose sipped her tea and asked, "Sir, you remember how Alex Finnigan's spell backfired on me in your class today?"

He chuckled lightly. "Quite clearly. Ms Finnigan does know how to wreak havoc."

Rose nodded, smiling politely and continued, "Well, her spell had some side effects. One side effect actually."

Professor Boot furrowed his eyebrows and leaned forward. "Yes?"

"I can read minds," Rose blurted out.

Terrance Boot stared at her, then blinked. "Pardon?"

Rose bit her lip nervously and repeated. "I can read anyone's mind if they are close enough, you know, hear their thoughts."

Professor Boot scowled a little. "I'm sorry if I'm having trouble believing you. I've never heard anything of this sort before. Mind if I test you?"

"Certainly, Professor."

"Excellent," he said, setting his cup down, "What am I thinking about right now?"

Rose wasted no time. "Your upcoming research trip to Albania."

He nodded, looking shocked and impressed. "Now?"

"Sir Cadogan's portrait," she said immediately.

"And now?"

"Your favourite sweet at Honeydukes that is Exploding Bonbons," Rose said.

Professor Boot exhaled, shaking his head in utter disbelief. "Impossible," he breathed, "When did this start?"

Rose shrugged. "Around half an hour after Charms got over."

"And how did you come to know you could read people's minds?" inquired Professor Terry Boot, sipping his now cold tea.

Rose went slightly red at that. She had no idea why she was blushing. "I um –I met Scorpius Malfoy and could automatically read his mind, without actually meaning to."

Fortunately, he didn't ask more about the incident. It was like he had guessed she didn't want to talk about it.

"Very well," he said, sighing, "I'm going to be honest with you, Rose ;I haven't the foggiest idea how this happened nor do I know how long it will last. I have not heard anything of this kind happening ever before in my life! But don't worry, I _will _do research and try to find out about it and how to remedy it."

Rose nodded glumly. She hadn't expected this. She had thought Professor Boot would wave his wand and her stupid newfound ability would go away. Not…this.

She stood up to leave. Professor followed her to the door.

"Thank you and goodnight sir," Rose said before closing the door behind her.

* * *

"Holy Mother of –Weasley!"

Rose snapped out of her now forgotten dream.

"Eurgh?" she mumbled incoherently, lifting her head and blinking groggily.

When her eyes had cleared up, she met the sight of Scorpius Malfoy frowning at her, a brightly lit wand in his hand. That was the only source of light around, aside from his glittering silver eyes of course.

Rose shot him an annoyed look. "Can't you patrol quietly?"

He gaped at her, disbelief evident on his face. "Patrol quietl –Weasley, what the bloody hell do you think you are doing here?"

She rolled her eyes. "In case you're blind and it isn't obvious, I was _sleeping._"

"But why in the world are you sleeping in the library of all places? Is your dormitory on fire or something?" asked Scorpius, not believing he was really having this ludicrous conversation.

Rose pouted. "Well, not really. But I couldn't possibly sleep there."

Scorpius stared at her, wide-eyed. "Weasley…aren't dormitories _meant _to be slept in?"

Rose finally cracked and shouted at him, "This is the only empty place that I could find where there wasn't a single person, Malfoy! I was going crazy in my dorm, listening to everyone's stupid dreams! It was maddening! So will you _please _shut up now about me sleeping in the bloody library and leave me the hell alone?"

There was a stunned silence following her outburst. Rose was breathing hard and Scorpius's mouth was hanging open in shock. A few seconds passed before he broke the deafening silence.

"Honestly, Weasley," he said slowly, "I could think of a dozen places in this castle off the top of my head that would be better than the freaking _library_."

Rose looked up at him, bewildered. "What are you saying? Aren't you going to dock points?"

Scorpius gave her a small smile and it was absolutely beautiful. Rose's body was reacting to the smile a little overzealously, if the fluttering butterflies in her stomach and her wildly thumping heart were to be taken into consideration.

"Not today, Weasley," he said winking, "You're lucky I'm in a fairly good mood."

Rose tried not to hyperventilate at the wink he'd just thrown so casually at her. Oh Merlin, she wanted to kick herself.

She coughed uncomfortably and forced out the words she knew she had to say, "Um –er –thank….you."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow and smirked. "No need to thank me, my dear little ginger. You're now in my debt."

Rose gulped. The thought made her unbelievably squeamish. She would've preferred costing Gryffindor a hundred points than be in Scorpius Malfoy's debt. He could be an outright evil bastard when he wanted to be.

"What are you going to make me do, Malfoy?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously.

He grinned wickedly and his eyes flashed criminally. "All in good time, Rosie, all in good time," he said, "Now…I can't see even you stoop so low, so get up Weasley, we're finding you a place to sleep."

Rose gaped at him, not believing her eyes. Was this the same Scorpius Malfoy, her enemy of five years?

When she didn't move and continued to gawk at him, he rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet. A zing of electricity went up Rose's arm.

A short while later, Rose found herself in front of a…wall.

"Um…" Rose said, looking up at Scorpius confusedly and entertaining the idea of him possibly being a madman.

He had closed his eyes and before she knew what was happening, a door appeared in front of her. She wanted to hit herself when she realized what it was.

"Of course!" she exclaimed, "The Room of Requirement! Why didn't I think of it?"

Scorpius smiled at her teasingly as he opened the door for her, "I have to say, Weasley, being Hermione Granger's daughter, you can be pretty dumb."

She shot him a withering look and muttered, "Shut up, Malfo -" but she stopped short as the room came into view.

It was the cosiest place she had ever been in. A warm fire was blazing in the fireplace, a huge comfortable bed was situated right in front of it with a rug on the bottom. A plate of choco-chip cookies and a glass of milk sat on the bedside table. There was also a long sleeved shirt and a pair of pyjama bottoms exactly her size with fuzzy and fluffy slippers to go with them.

It was heaven. Rose wanted to cry with happiness.

In a moment of ecstasy, Rose launched herself at Scorpius, squeezing his middle all the while muttering, "Thank you," repeatedly into his school shirt which smelled _very nice. _

Scorpius was frozen. He didn't hug her back but he didn't push her away either.

As soon as the excitement died down, Rose realized what she was doing. She quickly released him and took several back, her face very red.

"Uh, sorry," she muttered, then added, "And thank you for everything."

Not being able to bring himself to speak, Scorpius merely shrugged.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

Then Scorpius cleared his throat. "So…I'll um…go now." And he started towards the exit of the room.

"Wait!" Rose blurted out, "I couldn't help noticing that even though I've spent the last forty five minutes in your presence, I couldn't hear your thoughts at all."

His eyes twinkled. "Didn't I say I was really good at Occlumency?"

Rose nodded. "Yes and I'm grateful. It's nice to be around someone and not hear their thoughts."

"I'm sure," Scorpius said, not unkindly, "Anyway, I should really go now. I have to finish my patrol. 'Night Weasley."

"Goodnight, Malfoy."

With that, he went out of the door, leaving Rose with the warm comfortable room and a funny feeling in her stomach.

* * *

**A/N: Okay so as you might have guessed, I'm thinking of continuing it further.**

**I mean, if I do, it won't be a ginormous multi-chapter fic. Maybe only one or two more chapters. **

**So, well, review if you wish this to be continued!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Till next time! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own Harry Potter and the world is flat. Both of these things are not true.  
**

**A/N: Third chappie's here, folks! **

**Thank you sosososososo much for the reviews: The Chirpy Bitch, Amber wilkinson, LilyLullaby, Ms JasminMalfoy, sun-set-on-the-horizon, Nominous, SleepyPoodle, Addie, Bookaholism and Bourbon and chocolate! You guys are the best :D I have sent PMs to everyone who was logged in. I'm sorry if I skipped someone. I honestly didn't mean to :)  
**

**Also, thanks to those who have followed and favourit-ed this story!**

**You know, funny thing, I named the nasty Potions teacher Gaston because I was watching Beauty and the Beast while writing this XD **

**Note: I really try to proofread but I have some laziness disease so please forgive me for the grammatical errors :/**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Scorpius stifled a yawn and counted the lines on the parchment. Dang, he still needed 500 words to bring the word limit of his History of Magic essay to a bare minimum.

He irritably picked up the huge, heavy and extremely boring textbook again and searched for more material for his essay. He kind of regretted dozing off in the History of Magic classes now.

He slightly frowned when he heard a movement around him and looked up to see what had caused it. It was not what he'd expected. He was so shocked to see Rose Weasley sitting across him doing her own essay like she had been there all along, that he toppled his bottle of ink which smashed on the floor, earning him a sharp glare from the librarian. He shot her an apologetic look and cleaned up the mess with a wave of his want, muttering, _"Scourgify."_

Scorpius noted Rose had gone back to her work after the little disturbance. He stared at her, completely gobsmacked.

Finally, after what seemed like a million years under his unwavering gaze, Rose looked up and asked, "What do you want?"

He shook his head and blinked but then quickly composed himself. "Excuse me? I think I should be asking you that question."

Rose looked puzzled. "Me? Well, I don't want anything though my quill feels too scratchy, so I might want to –"

"No," Scorpius interjected, "I mean, what are you doing here, at my table? You and I," he gestured to them both, "are not friends."

Scorpius thought he saw hurt flash in her eyes for a brief second but quickly dismissed it.

Now she was glaring at him stonily. "I know that better than anyone, Malfoy," she hissed, "But I thought it would be obvious what I'm doing here." She raised her eyebrows at him questioningly. He didn't even try to guess.

He shrugged and said, "No, sorry. I'm lost."

Rose rolled her eyes at him and said, "Well, unfortunately, you're the only person I can tolerate right now." It looked like it pained her a great deal to say that.

There was a slow grin spreading on Scorpius's face and his eyes glinted mischievously. "And why is that?"

Rose blushed a little for no reason and snapped at him to cover it up, "You know exactly why!" she lowered her voice as she earned a glare of her own from Madam Hewitt, "You're the only whose mind I can't read."

"Really? I had no idea. I'm honoured," said Scorpius, then dropped the act and turned back to his 500 words short essay, muttering, "Hope…she…not…regular…thing."

Rose pretended to not have heard him and started rummaging through her bag for another quill.

They worked the rest of the evening in silence.

* * *

The next day, Scorpius sat down in the Potions dungeon with a sigh, getting ready for another boring class. Sometimes, Professor Gaston could be even more drab than old Binns and he was nastier as well. A Slytherin through and through. Not that Scorpius had anything against Slytherins. He was one, after all.

As the whole class settled down and Gaston prepared to start his lesson, someone slid into the seat next to him.

Scorpius groaned and put his head in his hands. "Not again."

Rose flashed him a playful smirk. "Suck it up, Blondie. You've got another class with me."

Scorpius just shot her a withering look though his mood considerably improved as the class progressed.

Rose had a great sense of humour and her jokes and comments about Gaston had him turning his laughter into coughs one too many times.

Gaston however, was getting increasingly annoyed.

"Malfoy," he said, "You seem to have a bad case of cold. You've been coughing so much."

Scorpius looked at him as innocently as possible. "I'm perfectly fine, Professor. Nothing to worry about."

"But dear boy, I've got just the potion for you!" said Professor Gaston gleefully, his sneer malicious, holding up a vial of potion.

Scorpius gulped nervously, eyeing the vial of the light green liquid like it was poison. Knowing Gaston, it was probably was. He had never been very fond of Scorpius.

"I'm fine, Professor. There really is no need," Scorpius insisted.

"You're sure?" Gaston asked, eyebrows raised and Scorpius nodded. "Then I would hope your incessant coughing will cease soon or I might just have to slip a few drops in your pumpkin juice –out of concern, of course." Scorpius could identify the disguised threat, as could Rose.

"The foul, slimy git," she muttered venomously as soon as Gaston had resumed back to his lesson. "Why does he think he is, threatening students like that?"

Then she noticed Scorpius looking at her amusedly, eyebrows raised and small smile playing at his lips.

Her cheeks reddened at the look he was giving her. "Don't get wrong ideas, Malfoy. I still hate you –I just happen to hate Gaston more."

Scorpius's smile widened as he shrugged. "Okay."

Rose's cheeks coloured some more and she glared at him. "Shut up." She was glad he could not hear the wild thumping of her heart.

He shook his head, grinning. "Weasley…I didn't even say anything."

"You didn't have to," she said quietly and went back to squashing a frog's liver, refusing to say another word for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

By the fourth day, Scorpius didn't even look up when Rose sat down across him.

"Hi," she said shortly as she tied her hair.

Scorpius refused to acknowledge her, eyes firmly on the Astronomy chart in front of him even though his mind was anywhere but.

Rose glanced at him curiously and repeated herself, now louder. "Hi."

Scorpius abruptly looked up but didn't meet her gaze. Rose thought he looked awkward which she found very strange. Although, neither of them ever admitted it, they had stroke an unlikely friendship. Rose sat with him in all the classes they shared and in her free time and he didn't seem to mind. In her opinion, he rather enjoyed her company and she would never admit it but his Occlumency skills were just an excuse now.

Sometimes, they were extremely noisy, sometimes they worked in absolute silence. They just seemed to click. They worked well together.

Additionally, Rose had become extra conscious around Scorpius. He stayed on her mind long after they had said goodbye, she got an awful, fluttery feeling at the pit of her stomach whenever she saw him and she blushed way too much in his presence. Rose tried to ignore all this but it was really hard.

She blinked and stared at him questioningly, feeling quite nervous for some reason.

"I –um…" he stuttered uncharacteristically, "I have to go. I'm sorry. It's important. See you, Weasley."

With that, he hastily threw his things in his bag and started walking briskly towards the library door.

Rose was utterly bewildered.

* * *

Rose had been extremely frustrated and slightly hurt when she realized that Scorpius was avoiding her. It went on for a week.

He was quite smart and managed to escape confrontations with her which annoyed her to no end.

At first, she wanted to corner him and calmly and gently ask him what was wrong. Now, she just wanted to punch his nose and yell at his perfect face.

The side-effect had ended a couple days after Scorpius started denying her existence and Rose could now hang with anyone but…she missed him. She hated herself for it but she did.

Besides, Alex and Al weren't the same anymore. They had gotten together –_finally –_and Rose often felt left out; a third wheel. She was feeling lonely and angry and Scorpius was going to pay for it. It was all his fault anyway, that narcissistic prat.

Rose had decided. She _would _confront him that day, no matter what, and if tried to run away, she would honestly hex him into the next century.

Rose borrowed (stole) Al's Invisibility Cloak and set out of the Gryffindor Tower. She knew it was Scorpius's turn to patrol and with the help of a Puking Pastille, she had managed to land his partner in the Hospital Wing. She realized what she did was horrible but she was also sort of proud of herself for coming up with it all. It was so very Slytheriny of her…Oh God.

She took the Marauder's Map from her pocket which she had also borrowed (stolen) from Al while he was busy snogging Alex and located Scorpius. He was on the third floor. Perfect. Filch usually avoided going there due to his knees.

Rose set off for the third floor as stealthily as possible. It took her a good ten minutes. She quickly spotted him and crouched low like a tiger stalking its prey. It was all very thrilling in her head. She was a quite dramatic person.

When he was close enough, Rose pushed him into a broom cupboard as he gave a yelp of surprise.

"What the –" he started to swear but then lighted his wand first with a low, "_Lumos." _His eyes widened considerably as he took in the person standing before him.

"Weasley, what –whoa! Easy there," he said as he noticed Rose's wand pointed at his chest. It did not help that she was looking positively murderous.

"You absolute son of a –WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" Rose shouted as her blue eyes flashed ferociously.

Scorpius disregarded her words. His eyes were fixed on the piece of wood which was now digging into his chest as Rose had come to stand very close to him in her fury.

"Could you, um, maybe lower that thing? It's really er –making me nervous so it'd be great if you could just –" he trailed off as he suddenly saw her eyes fill with tears.

Scorpius was alarmed. _What was happening? _

Rose's pent up emotions were threatening to burst as tears and though she was trying really hard to not let them fall, she knew it was futile. The anger had unexpectedly gone. Something much worse had taken its place.

"Rose," Scorpius said, "What happened?"

Rose had lowered her wand and had her eyes cast to the floor. There was hardly any distance between them but neither seemed to notice.

"Was this a joke to you?" Rose whispered, not looking up.

"What do you mean?" asked Scorpius cautiously.

"You know, the nice act," she said bitterly and it felt good that her voice was sturdy, not shaking, "I'm starting to think it was. You did not care at all, did you? Just when I start to think you're not that bad, you go and –"

"It's not like that," Scorpius interrupted, voice tight. It had suddenly lost the soft edge to it. He was trying very hard to keep his voice and face free of any emotion –completely impassive. It was proving to be harder than he expected. "You don't understand."

Rose gasped in disbelief and finally looked up to meet his stormy eyes. "How dare you! _I _don't understand? _I'm _the one who doesn't get it? Malfoy, you're –"

But exactly what he was, Rose never got to tell him because the next thing she knew, he had planted his lips on hers, hands gripping her waist. It was an impulsive kiss, urgent and desperate. But it was good enough for Rose. Without thinking what she was doing or about its consequences, Rose kissed him back just as fervently, arms wounding around his neck, pulling him closer. She was feeling incredible, indescribable things. The tingling sensation going through her body was the most wonderful thing she'd ever experienced.

Their wands had clattered to the floor, where they now lay forgotten.

Scorpius was the first one to come to his senses. He gently pushed her away, breathing heavily, not being able to believe what he had done.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said, running a hand through his hair, "I shouldn't have done that. I _should not _have done that –it was totally inappropriate but Merlin, its hard Rose…it's so goddamn hard," he sound extremely frustrated, "I can't do it. I can't be so near you all the time and not do something like that and believe me when I say, it was getting tougher resisting every day. I couldn't take it. I _had _to stop myself from seeing you. I still do and I'm sorry but I can't. I just …can't. Goodnight Rose," Scorpius ended his very confusing speech, picking his wand from the floor.

Rose was not yet capable of forming coherent sentences so she kept quiet as he walked past her and out of the cupboard.

She vaguely registered his lingering familiar, intoxicating scent as her mind was too busy spinning uncontrollably.

Some part of her wanted to just chuck it. Forget him and move on with life.

She touched her lips and her stomach gave a longing jolt.

No. She couldn't do that. Scorpius Malfoy had lodged himself too deep into her life. So deep, it was now impossible to let him go.

* * *

**A/N: One more chapter left! **

**Do review like you have done for the past two chapters! :D**

**Thanks a lot for reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I write "fanfiction". Therefore, I'm a fan.**

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, folks! I really had no idea what to write in this chapter so it's possible it didn't turn out to be as great as I wanted to it to be. **

**A HUGE thanks to all the reviewers: Moste-Potente-4ever, oracle987, Lilly flower forever, Narnian Dreams, The Chirpy Bitch, LoveLoganNiallGrey, Hades Child99, Bourbon and chocolate, Nominous, Emily, Guest#1, Madie, Bookie and Guest#2!**

**Additionally, thanks to everyone who followed, favourite-d and read the story! Your support was wholeheartedly appreciated! **

**Not proofread. **

**So…on with the last chapter I guess…**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Rose had to let him go. And that was exactly what she was trying to do.

Over the next few days, the avoiding was mutual. Rose and Scorpius avoided each other like some contagious and deadly disease. On the off chance that they did pass each other in corridors between classes, they didn't acknowledge each other, when not two weeks ago, they had snogged each other senseless. It pained Rose a great deal.

She usually tried not to think about their kiss but when she was relaxing in the Common Room or about to go to sleep, the stupid memory surfaced out of the back of her mind and made it impossible for her to think of anything else. The rumour was indeed true: Scorpius was a mind blowing kisser.

Damn Malfoy and his ability to ruin her life. Initially, it had been because she hated him and now because she was in love with him!

Sigh…might as well admit it; there was no point in denying. But that in no way meant she wasn't fed up with him. He was driving her up the wall by being totally impossible and incomprehensible. Oh, how she wished she could still read minds now. She hated not knowing things –she wasn't used to being clueless. She snapped her quill in fury which startled Alex to a great extent.

They were completing their homework in the Common Room but not really as Rose hadn't touched her work.

_What the –I gave her that quill! _

Oh great, now to top it all off, she was having Alex-voiced thoughts.

"Rose," said Alex impatiently, "Gaston is going to eat you alive if you don't turn this in tomorrow."

"I don't care about stupid homework, Alex!" Rose said loudly, thoroughly annoyed.

Alex put her quill down and capped her ink bottle, then sighed like she was getting ready for a boring lecture.

"Alright," she said, "What's got your knickers in a twist?"

Rose shot her a brief glare then looked away, crossing her arms over her chest. "Nothing."

Alex rolled her eyes and continued, "Spit it out, Weasley. We aren't leaving this room till you tell me what's wrong. I've been noticing this for days now.

"Don't call me that!" Rose snapped irritably.

Alex blinked. "What, Weasley?"

Rose grunted something that suspiciously sounded like a 'yes'. Alex looked confused at first, the comprehension dawned on her face.

She smirked. "Ah, I see. So this has got something to do with a certain Malfoy."

Rose snorted. "You cannot possibly know that."

"Oh, but I do," Alex said, "I'm sure of it. What's it this time? Did he call you a Weasley hag again? Is that what you're so worked up about?"

"No, as a matter of fact Alexandra," said Rose, "he snogged me."

Alex's jaw dropped. She stared at Rose for a few moments –completely shell-shocked.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she squeaked at last.

Rose smiled at her weakly. "You heard me."

"But why didn't you say something!"

"Because you were too busy shagging Albus!"

Alex's face turned a deep red but she looked ashamed. "I –I'm sorry I haven't been there for you, Rose."

"That's okay," Rose replied smiling, "You were so happy –I didn't want to ruin it with my problems."

"Well," Alex said, waving her wand and conjuring two delicious looking mugs of hot chocolate (handy spell from her mum), "there's always now. I want to hear all about it. And by the way, I'm not shagging Albus!"

Rose grinned teasingly. "Yeah, of course not. Anyway, it started when …"

* * *

Telling Alex everything seemed to lift a great weight off Rose's shoulders. It was easier to breathe; easier to think.

Alex had offered her three solutions:

1: Shag him and then dump him.

2: Force him to marry her and have her children.

3: To go talk to him.

Even though Alex wasn't serious about two of them, Rose still ruled out all three of them because she would rather adopt a Blast Ended Screwt than go talk to the Supreme Git of the Universe. No way in hell was she going to act that desperate. She had already went and talked to him once. It was now his turn.

Rose's mind was taken off her screwed up love life at dinner.

She was just about to ladle pork chops onto her plate when Albus plopped himself beside her, looking very dodgy. Alex had decided to skip dinner to complete her long overdue Transfiguration essay and it was surprising Al wasn't there to help her, seeing as he was great at the subject.

Albus glanced at her nervously and started piling food on his plate without paying any attention to the task whatsoever.

"Al," said Rose suspiciously, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered, not looking up. Rose squinted at him. She was a nosy bitch so naturally she _needed _to know what was going on his head.

_I guess Chris is my friend but –_

"Aha!" Rose exclaimed, "So this is something about Christopher Davies, huh?"

Albus stared at her, horror-struck. "Shit, did I say that out loud? Damn it!"

"So what's going on?" asked a curious Rose.

Al groaned. "Do I have to tell you?"

"Does it involve Alex?"

"Yeah."

"Then, yes –absolutely."

Al exhaled. "Fine. So…you do know Alex dated Chris for a while last year right?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, of course."

He hesitated before lowering his voice and continuing, "Were they serious?"

Rose stared at him for a second then burst out laughing.

Al frowned. "It's not funny, Rose. Were they?"

"Yes, they kind of were" she confessed, but when she saw his face fall, she hastened to say, "But you have nothing to worry about, Al. Believe me."

"How can you be so sure? They're such great friends!" he complained miserably.

"And they are just that. Friends. Trust me, Albus Severus –Alex has feelings for no one but you," Rose let him know earnestly.

"Really?"

"Positive."

"Thanks, Rosie," Al said, smiling gratefully.

"You're welco –" Rose started to say but trailed off as her eyes locked with a pair of metal grey orbs that she only knew too well.

She became conscious of her heart beating uncomfortably against her chest. No, no –NOT GOOD.

And just as soon as they had come, they were gone.

Rose felt her anger rise again. She had suddenly lost her appetite. She roughly got up and left the Great Hall, ignoring her cousin's startled looks.

* * *

Scorpius was tired. Tired and frustrated. His life was in ruins at the moment.

His prefect duties were alarmingly increasing, he had had a spat with his mother, his grades had hit rock-bottom and the girl he was crazy about was cold and indifferent towards him.

Not that she was to blame. It was completely his fault. His own bloody fault. And if he could kick himself without looking deranged, he would, because pushing her away turned out to be a big mistake. He missed her incredibly as a friend.

Scorpius was still sure she didn't like him in the least. He had indirectly confessed his feelings to her at least a hundred times and she hadn't given him a hint about her own. So either she was so thick that she hadn't understood him or she didn't like him back. He was leaning more towards the latter.

But that was okay. It was okay she didn't like him but he would do anything to cease her cold icy behaviour.

Alright, he was a hypocrite. A huge one at that. He was no better than her –just as stubborn. He didn't make any attempts to talk to her and sort things out. Instead, he ignored her back. Great.

Scorpius was honestly the height of pathetic.

He wasn't able to sleep a wink that night. Rose's angry exit from the Great Hall, their kiss, her laugh, their hate days –everything kept playing in his mind again and again. It was exasperating.

At 1 A.M., Scorpius finally ripped away the sheets from his body and decided to clear his head. He exited the Common Room to roam about the dark castle, not caring about the risks.

He wandered for about forty five minutes before ending up in front of the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor. He shrugged and decided to go inside. At least, the room would know what he needed even if he didn't.

The door appeared in front of him. He opened it and stopped dead in his tracks.

Rose was sitting in a luxurious armchair, reading a muggle novel and wearing the shortest pair of shorts known to man and a loose tank top.

Scorpius wasn't going to deny it –she looked quite irresistible.

Rose looked up to see who had entered and her eyes widened in shock.

They stared at each other for a few moments and then before either knew what was happening, they were pressed up against each other in an extremely small space that smelled strongly of brooms. It was apparently a broom cupboard, no matter that it was ten times smaller than a regular one.

Scorpius swore loudly while Rose yelled, "Not cool, Room!"

"So," she said, after a minute, "is this what you 'required'?"

Scorpius scoffed. "Obviously not. I was not even properly _in _the room so it was you who wanted this."

"No way!" Rose said, "There is nothing I need that will require you to stand ten feet from me."

"Same," he said obstinately, "So clearly, this room is faulty."

"Yes, clearly."

They stood in absolute silence for a while before Rose broke it.

"This is highly uncomfortable," she said. However, what she didn't say was that it wasn't uncomfortable at all. She was begrudgingly enjoying it a little with his hands hovering near her waist and hers on his shoulders (What? There was no other place to keep them!)

"Well," Scorpius said coldly, "it would've been a whole lot less uncomfortable if you weren't half-naked."

Rose gasped and said loudly, "Excuse _me! _I'm _not _half-naked!"

"Yeah, you're right," Scorpius agreed, "You're three-quarters naked."

"Shut the heck up, Malfoy or I'll hex you like –"

"Really?" said Scorpius sarcastically, "I'd like to see you try without a wand."

Rose glowered at him though it was very difficult to see in the dark.

"The day I learn wandless magic is the day you'll be wiped off the face of this planet," Rose said through gritted teeth.

"Looking forward to it," Scorpius said dryly, "Anyway, how is the mind reading thing going?"

"It went away not that it's none of _your_ business," Rose said stonily. She wasn't going to be Ms Nice to him –she was going to be frigid bitch because that was the treatment he deserved.

"Fine. It's not like I care," Scorpius lied.

She laughed mirthlessly. "Please. I know how much you care. You practically confirmed you were smitten with me the last time we talked."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, did I? How do you know I wasn't messing with you? Isn't that the sort of thing I would do, the evil bastard that I am?"

"Yes," Rose agreed coolly, "But I know you weren't messing with me."

"You know nothing about me."

It wasn't that Rose wasn't angry throughout their conversation but that was when her temper finally reached its limit.

Naturally, she exploded. "GOD MALFOY! I DON'T GET YOU –I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU! One minute you hate me, the second you think I'm hot, the next you act all friendly –then you avoid me for a week because of some nonsensical shit-awful reason you give me along with a brilliant confession that you can't resist me so you have to stay away from me! Merlin, who does that? And _then, _you go and start ignoring me _again _and then you tell me _now _that you were just screwing with me! BLIMEY –HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO COPE UP WITH THAT? YOUR CONSTANTLY CHANGING EMOTIONS? Can't you just make up your bloody mind about how you really feel about me because your inconsistent behaviour is getting on my very last nerve and you'd do better to –"

_I love you. God, I love you, Rose Weasley. I'm crazy for you._

"What? What did you just say?" Rose whispered, hardly believing herself.

"I didn't say anything. In case you haven't noticed, you're the one who has been blabbing on for the last million years or so," Scorpius said.

And then, just like that, everything fell into place. Rose gasped as realization hit her. A feeling of immense excitement started spreading through her. How could she not have seen this before?

"Have you stopped using Occlumency?" asked Rose breathlessly.

Scorpius was puzzled. "Well, yeah…since you told me you can't read minds any –"

"Oh, but I can!" Rose exclaimed happily, "I can control it now! I can use it when I want to! For the last couple of days, I have been able to hear thoughts whenever I really wanted to –like with Alex and Albus and," she suddenly smiled at him brightly, "you. Right now. I just heard your thoughts."

Scorpius was stunned. He couldn't bring himself to speak. The whole thing was absolutely mind-boggling.

"You –" Rose started hesitantly, "You just said you love me –when you thought I couldn't hear you. Is it true?"

Scorpius could see no escape route. It was all out in the open now. "Yes," he said confidently.

Rose's eyes glinted mischievously and her hands went from his shoulders to around his neck. "So, remember that debt you talked about in the library?"

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Yeah?"

"I suppose I could pay it off now," Rose whispered seductively.

Scorpius smirked and leaned down so his lips were just a centimetre away from hers. "Damn right you can."

Then he kissed her softly, passion oozing out of him, making Rose feel like she had died and gone to heaven.

And suddenly, the cramped broom cupboard was gone, not that either of them noticed it as they were still in the exact same position, practically glued together.

When the need for oxygen became dire, they pulled away, flushed and breathless.

"So," Scorpius said, smoothing down his Rose-ruffled hair, "You like me, huh?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Do I still have to spell it out for you?"

He ignored her. "You know I thought you didn't like me –that's why I stayed away from you. If you'd told me sooner that you did, we could've saved ourselves two weeks of torture."

Rose grinned and quirked at eyebrow at him. "Oh, so it was torture for you? How sweet."

Scorpius smirked. "No, love. It was for _you._"

She scoffed. "Keep wishing, Malfoy."

"So you're a Legilimens now?" Scorpius wanted to know.

Rose nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Of sorts."

"You do realize I'm an Occlumens? It won't change anything with me," Scorpius informed, smiling smugly.

Rose grinned and pulled him closer, "And that is exactly how I want it."

* * *

**A/N: The End. **

**Was this chapter up to the usual standard? I sure hope so. **

**Thank you so much reading Mind Games, everyone! **

**I'm thinking of writing a sequel if time permits so look out for it ( if you actually ****_want _****a sequel. Let me know for sure!)**

**Thanks again!**

**Till next time!**

**JD**

* * *

**EDIT (8th MAY 2015): **

**Hey everyone!**

**This is to inform you all that the sequel to Mind Games has been posted by the name of Manipulation. It would be so awesome if you could check it out and tell me your views on it. I have the story all planned out and it'll be about the same length as Mind Games.**

**Thanks a lot for reading Mind Games and I hope you read and enjoy Manipulation as well!**


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